Blank Illinois map

What the outline shows

The map shows only the state's boundary. The top edge with Wisconsin is straight. The northeast corner is the Lake Michigan shore, about 60 miles of it, with Chicago at its head. The east edge is a straight line against Indiana down to the Wabash River, then the Wabash itself south to the Ohio. The whole southern edge is the Ohio River, and the whole west edge is the Mississippi River from the Iowa line to the confluence at Cairo. The two rivers meet at the sharp southern tip. None of the 102 county lines, the Illinois River, or any city is drawn. Capital marks Springfield in the centre of the state, and students often mistake it for Chicago's position until they compare with the lake.

Portrait or landscape

Illinois is about 390 miles from north to south and about 210 miles wide across the middle. That is close to 2:1, so portrait is the right choice; the state fills the page's height and leaves narrow margins on each side for labels. Landscape shrinks the map to half height and the pointed southern tip becomes hard to work with. The rivers that border the state are wide enough on the outline to be traced with a pencil at portrait scale.

Five classroom exercises

1. Trace the Mississippi River as the entire western border, and mark the three states across it: Iowa, then Missouri, then Kentucky at the very southern tip.
2. Draw the Illinois River rising near Chicago's suburbs, flowing southwest across the state and joining the Mississippi above Alton.
3. Mark Cairo at the point where the Ohio meets the Mississippi and explain why the state's southern tip is so narrow.
4. Draw the Wabash River along the lower part of the Indiana border and mark where the straight surveyed line above it begins.
5. Place Chicago, Aurora, Joliet, Rockford, Springfield and Peoria, and check with the answer key which of them lie on the Illinois River.

How to recognise the Illinois outline

• A tall shape that narrows toward a sharp point at the bottom, like an arrowhead or a tooth.
• A straight top edge and a mostly straight upper-right edge.
• A wavy lower-right edge (the Wabash and Ohio) and a wavy left edge (the Mississippi).
• A small concave curve in the top right where Lake Michigan cuts in.

Answer key and related maps

• Illinois map — the labeled version with capital, cities and borders; use it as the answer key.
• Printable Illinois map — the same outline with cities, county lines and the capital printed on.
• Illinois county map — all 102 counties with their seats.
• Springfield — the capital, in the centre of the state.
• Neighbours: Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa.
• Mississippi River, Ohio River and Great Lakes maps.
• All blank state maps and the printable US maps index.